Two Winters and One Summer of English Cricket and Continued Adventures

[Logie66]

Trinidad Day 2 - First Session

The Windies decided to make a positive move first thing, they actually took the new ball, would we see wickets or runs.  It didn"t take long to find out, 15 minutes into the session and Fidel Edwards was steaming in, and he appeared to beat Strauss for pace and his leg stump was out the ground, I"ve been so lucky with the pictures  



Shah then returned to the crease having got over his hand cramps, he doesn"t hang around long though as he try"s to take a single to the substitute fielder, probably didn"t realise it was Dwayne Bravo and he"s gone with the aid of a TV replay.



So more action for us in the first session and England have a mini-collapse, 268-4.

Prior joins Colly and this will need to be an important stand, the last of the recognised batsmen due to playing five bowlers.  Prior starts very positively and is taking one"s and dispatching the bad balls for four.  Prior races to 50 and has dominated the partnership so far.

Colly speeds back up before lunch and in the last over reaches his Test hundred, both Strauss and Colly have had a tremendous series, probably something to do with the roads the Windies keep serving up !! England 372-4 at Lunch.

[Logie66]

[Logie66]

Trindad Day 2 - Final Session

England try to score runs quickly after tea, looking for a quick declaration hopefully. Prior survives an LBW decision by referring it, Tiffen hides his head in shame as another of his decisions is reversed.  Broad goes for 19 and England finally declare on 546-6.

So what can England do, well for most of the first hour they waste everything !! The new ball, the referrals and probably the chance to win this Test.  The new ball bowling is particularly woeful and we don"t seem to put the batsmen under any pressure, Gayle strolls quickly into the 20"s.



Khan, comes on for his first over in the Test cricket, it"s a shocker, 9 balls in total, he"s obviously nervous and trying far to hard !! Swann also comes on and Gayle dispatches him over the ropes for six twice.  The run rate is over five an over, we were hoping for a better start than this !!



Finally we get to see Monty in action for the first time this tour, and he delivers, Smith is beaten and bowled, the crowd are up applauding the cult figure that is Monty.



If you look hard enough you can just see the ball between the stumps, for once I took it too early    The Windies survive to the close and are 92-1, we need some early wickets if we are to salvage anything from this start !!

[KarmaDope]

That last pic is perfect for a "spot the ball" competition!

[Logie66]

Trinidad Day 3 - First Session

Having been out for a late one, I amazingly make breakfast for the first day in Trinidad, I needed food after the alcohol last night, we settle into the ground and discover the top tier of the Carib stand is closed.  Apparently the stairs were shaking last night with the number of people using them, hopefully the big lump of concrete that the upper tier is won"t come down and squash us on the lower tier  

It"s a quick phone call to Mum to wish her a happy birthday, plus she get"s a quick chat from Tuffers, the King of the Jungle  

Back to the cricket, England get rid of nightwatchman Powell quickly this time, Broad gets him with a short one and it"s a simple catch for Pietersen, that brings in Sarwan, normally the little master and hasn"t scored less than 94 in the series so far. Monty is on and he gets an edge, only for Collingwood to drop the catch, oh boy we could regret that  

We don"t for long though as Khan somehow manages to bowl a straight one and gets Sarwan plumb in front, big celebrations and no referral, Gayle obviously thought it was plumb too  



So the little man fails and he is greeted to the Cheerio chant as he walks back to the pavilion.



Lendl Simmons wanders out to join Gayle on his debut, he is greeted the normal way, a few short deliveries as the bowlers attempt to soften him up.



The bowling this morning has been a big improvement on last night and the run rate has been contained after the shocking effort last night.  Gayle and Simmons see it through to Lunch 176-3.

[Logie66]

Trinidad Day 3 - Second Session

I"m certainly sufferring today, been a struggle to keep the eye"s open at times, it"s made easier by the number of locals in the stands who are making a lot of noise supporting their team, the ground does look a lot fuller today.

Back to the cricket and Gayle is looking in very good form, not as aggressive as last night but not looking in too much trouble, although Monty is causing a few problems, something always seems to be going on when he is bowling.



Gayle cruises through the nineties and gets to 99, he plays one to Shah who misfields and Gayle goes for his ton, it"s close and he ends up in a heap on the floor, all happened rather quickly that not sure what"s wrong but he"s not getting up quickly, finally he rises to acknowledge his hundred.



The Trinni Posse Stand goes ballistic, supported as always by the Digicel girls.



Gayle then hobbles off and Chanderpaul comes out, the entertainment levels might drop a bit now ! But Monty gets another shout in and the finger is up against Simmons, the decision is appealled against and we have another referral, this time the finger goes up again to confirm the decision, well bowled Monty  



Chanderpaul and Nash bore us throught to Tea, the score is 251-4, Strauss had a great chance with a bat pad to remove Nash but the chance goes down.

Final session missed as I return to the hotel for some kip, the game has turned into a bit of a slog and I"m struggling to stay awake, normal service resumed in the morning  

[Logie66]

Refreshed after a good sleep and no alcohol, weather again looking gorgeous.  If today is as painful as yesterday I might be making use of the gorgeous weather tomorrow instead, going to be difficult to get anything out of this game now  

[Logie66]

Trinidad Day 4 - First Session

We brave the bus to the ground, even though no one is that keen. Watched a bit of local TV last night and even the local cricket fans are unimpressed with the quality of the wickets that have been prepared for Barbados and Trinidad.  The talk show host, playing a bit of Devil"s Advocate even suggests that Barbados and Trinidad shouldn"t be awarded any more Test matches due to the wickets that have been prepared, you have to take your hat off to them, they are a passionate lot over here  

The first session continues as the last, Chanderpaul is boring the pants of us, leaving most balls and defending the straight ones, not may attacking shots in his pocket today !!



Nash does show a bit of attacking flair, but the bowling being delivered is pretty poor.  Most of his scoring shots appear to have been boundaries, but he has faced a few !!  He eventually reaches his hundred, well batted you Aussie  



We reach lunch the score isn"t really worth worrying about now, the Digicel girls have been doing a lot of dancing this morning, the only real entertainment in the ground  

[Logie66]

[Logie66]

Another enjoyable evening in Trinidad, about 12 of us head off to a local Chinese.  The restaurant is rather nice and the fare served up is plentiful and tasty.  A quick wander down the road to a bar after the restaurant before heading back to the hotel and a few more beers after pursuading the staff to re-open the bar  

With England on the rack we have all agreed to head off to the ground in the morning to support the boys, hopefully England will get to just over 200, declare and try and get a win, Strauss will go up in my estimation if he has a go.

[APAT]

Really enjoying your updates Don.  There will be a hole in my train reading when you return...

[Logie66]

[Honeybadg]

... enjoying the Digicel girls ...

Who is going to explain to Strauss the concept of making a declaration at the right time ...

... is he in contact with WG Grace?

L

[Logie66]

... enjoying the Digicel girls ...

Who is going to explain to Strauss the concept of making a declaration at the right time ...

... is he in contact with WG Grace?

L

I thought his declaration in both games was spot on, it"s easy for all the pundits to make comment in hindsight when they can do so with the result known.

[Swinebag]

... enjoying the Digicel girls ...

Who is going to explain to Strauss the concept of making a declaration at the right time ...

... is he in contact with WG Grace?

L

I thought his declaration in both games was spot on, it"s easy for all the pundits to make comment in hindsight when they can do so with the result known.

I agree. What did Beefy want them to do?? set them 150 in 80 overs??? I remember him as a great player but a terrible captain. I thought england and strauss did as well as could be expected to get a result in this test and the other tests as well, especially given the negative pitches that the games were played on.

I think the preparation of wickets has been an issue in this series. the last three tests have been played on absolute featherbeds. I couldn"t imagine that happening in the days of Marshall, Holding et al.